"Heck no!" says President Linwood H. Rose to professor Carol Kniebusch Noe, when she offered him Madison's fragile crystal flue to hold: "Paying the insurance policy is enough."

Music professor plays crystal flute

The celebration of James Madison's 250th birthday gave music professor Carol Knie-busch Noe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She capped off a 28-year teaching career with a recital on a crystal flute once owned by Madison.

The flute was crafted in 1813 by Claude Laurent in Paris and was a gift to President Madison. The flute is currently housed in the Library of Congress, which rarely loans the instrument; but special arrangements were made to make it part of JMU's weeklong celebration.

"What we know about this particular flute is sketchy," says Noe, who presented "Music of James Madison" on the flute in both a Wilson Hall recital and a brief performance prior to Justice Clarence Thomas' Madison Day lecture.

"We believe the flute was delivered to Madison by Lafa-yette," says Noe. "Claude Laurent's flutes were prized in the first half of the 19th century as superior musical instruments and as exquisite art objects."

The instrument bears an inscription on one of its silver fittings: "A S E President Madison des Etats Unis," which translates, "To His Eminence President Madison of the United States." A S E is an abbreviation for A Son Eminence. Laurent/aParis./1813" is also inscribed on another of the flute's silver fittings.

The Madison flute is part of the Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection, the world's largest flute archives. The collection was amassed by the Cleveland physicist and flute lover, who acquired the Madison crystal flute in 1920 for $200, according to the professor.

"The flute is beautiful," she says. "It's not thin crystal. The tube is thicker and has a diamond-shaped pattern."

Noe did not have much time to practice on the flute, since it arrived on campus under tight security only days before her performance. To prepare, she practiced on an early 19th-century wood flute, also on loan from the Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection.

"Miller Collection curator Robert Sheldon is a flute player himself," says Noe. "He understood that I needed to practice on an antique flute. ... I knew the crystal flute would sound very different, but the loaner has been beneficial in practicing unique fingering techniques necessary to play early flutes. We don't know if Mr. Madison played the flute, but I'm going to think that he did because I want to. Nobody knows that he didn't. And of course, he must have handled it."

The professor's recital featured early American songs from The Gentleman's Amusement, a collection of American melodies and patriotic songs from Colonial times.

Finding other historically accurate sources for music of Madison's day proved to be a challenge for Noe and School of Music colleague Susan Barber. Flute musicologist Nancy Toff, who has been a consultant to the Library of Congress for the Miller flute collection, was helpful in suggesting composers and books, says Noe. One of the books Toff recommended, Music for Patriots, Politicians and Presidents: Harmonies and Discords of the First Hundred Years, was out of print, but Noe purchased a copy after a harried, but eventually successful, on-line search.

Noe was eager to share with her faculty colleagues the excitement of having the flute on campus. Music professors Keith Stevens and Vicki Ber-neking accompanied Noe on period selections featuring a 19th-century guitar and a harpsichord. Michele Kirkdorffer, D. Ray McClellan and Susan Barber also accompanied on the oboe, clarinet and bassoon, respectively.

Carol Noe then played a solo composition, La Folia by Marin Marais, which she describes as "a short popular melody of the day. I wanted to bring in the French connection because of the French flute and because we think it was delivered to Madison by Marquis de Lafayette."

Noe has a long list of professional accomplishments including serving as National Flute Association delegate to China in 1987 and the Soviet Union in 1989. She conducted the JMU Flute Choir (which she founded in 1973) in a 1999 performance as the first Ameri-can flute choir invited to perform in England.

Noe says, "Playing the Madison flute parallels the day I received the Distinguished Teaching Award in value to me. I think It's the peak of my career to play something that actually belonged to James Madison. Words can't express what that means."

  By Janet L. Smith ('81)